The Associated Press is reporting that Rush Limbaugh continues to feel the pressure from advertisers following his string of misogynistic attacks on Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke. From the AP:
Radio stations in Hawaii and Massachusetts have dropped his show. Media Matters claims that 58 companies have specifically asked that their ads be excluded from Limbaugh's show. Radio-Info.com's TRI Newsletter said Premiere has circulated a list of 98 advertisers who want to avoid “environments likely to stir negative sentiments,” essentially all politically pointed talk shows.
There's more. TRI also said a group with several stations that air Limbaugh sent out a list of 31 advertisers who don't want to be on Limbaugh's show.
Premiere notes that a list is sent out four times a year reminding stations of advertisers who don't want to be part of controversial programming, and suggests a reported exodus is exaggerated. The company offered no list of its own, or a comparison that could show advertisers resistant to Limbaugh or other controversial shows that predated the Fluke comments.
Some companies said not to want to advertise within Limbaugh's program -- JC Penney, NAPA Auto Parts, Chapstick, Gold Bond, Green Mountain Coffee -- did not respond to requests to clarify their policies. One company listed, NBC-TV, said the network was unaware of any policy or past efforts to advertise with Limbaugh.
Valerie Geller, a veteran radio consultant who worked at Limbaugh's WABC flagship in New York, said it appears that advertising money coming into Limbaugh's show is slowing down. “I think it's a very big wakeup call,” she said.